Moving my blog

It just came to my attention that my uwm email has cancelled on me. Since this blog is registered under that email, I cannot recieve comment updates and such. Sometime soon I'll be copy-pasting my posts into a new account. The new link will be posted via Facebook.

t0m3k

Starbucks has arrived in Poland

I ran across this article online today. I pretty much jizzed in my pants after finding out that Poland now has it's first Starbucks. I hope that any coffee addicts like me enjoy this:

After the new Starbucks opened, I walked by the place a couple of times just to see the crowds. Strategically located midway between the university and the stock exchange, the world's best-known coffee franchise immediately attracted a well-heeled clientele. Lines twisted around the shop and out the door. Up and down the street, bluejeaned students and dark-suited stockbrokers carried their white paper cups with pride, the famous green labels facing outward.

Yes, Starbucks has come to Warsaw, Poland, at last. The brand might be out of fashion in the United States; the company might be losing money. Its share price might be about one-third of what it was at its peak in 2006; it might have diluted its once-exclusive image through massive overexpansion. (After drinking the watery brew served by a sullen barista in a Starbucks at the Salt Lake City airport recently, I mentally cheered the chain's decision to shut 600 U.S. shops.) But here in Central Europe, the arrival of Starbucks has been greeted with undiluted enthusiasm—so much enthusiasm, in fact, that the phenomenon seems, to me, to require further explanation. Starbucks knockoffs have been available in most Polish cities for the better part of a decade. Older cafes, the kind that serve coffee in china cups, have been available for the better part of three centuries. Looking at that line of twentysomethings, all waiting patiently for the chance to pay twice as much for a cup of coffee as they would across the street, one had to wonder what was up.

The answer lies partly in the magic of brand names and status symbols—but also in the psychology of the post-Communist world. The arrival of McDonald's in Warsaw in the early 1990s signified for many the arrival of capitalism in Poland. The arrival of Starbucks in Warsaw, as in Prague, Czech Republic (it got there a few months ago), and possibly Budapest, Hungary (where it's been promised for years), signifies the entry of Central Europe not just into the capitalist world but into the world of 21st-century-style prosperity.

It also signifies a very real set of economic and psychological changes. After half a century of being told by their Communist governments that the future lay in factory jobs and mining (it didn't), upwardly mobile Poles now aspire to different sorts of jobs: in fashion, in courtrooms, in computers; jobs that require hardworking employees to drink their coffee on the run; jobs that also leave them with enough leisure to hang out at Starbucks, doing deals. Many already have such jobs. A couple of summers ago, I ran into an American who was scouting for Starbucks on a Polish beach. He was trawling Baltic summer resorts, trying to work out whether there were enough people around willing to pay $3 for a cup of coffee. Obviously, someone has decided that there are.

And if you haven't quite attained that financial latitude, you can at least pretend you have at Starbucks. If you are still a student, or if you are just starting out in stockbrokering or fashion, you might not have the money to buy designer shoes or a new car. You are probably more likely to indulge in small luxuries, such as overpriced coffee. (A Hungarian friend reports that business is booming in Budapest beauty salons for the same reason.)

By the same token, when you don't have an especially nice place to live—if you live, for instance, in a dormitory—you might well prefer to spend your afternoons in an attractive coffeehouse. And here is where the Starbucks ethos meshes so well with the cultural history of central Europe: At the height of their popularity, the coffeehouses of 19th-century Vienna, Warsaw, or Budapest were famously frequented by people who didn't live in particularly lush apartments and therefore preferred to spend their time in rooms decorated like the salons of the upper classes. Hence the association of coffeehouses with poets, literati, revolutionaries, and other assorted riffraff. Hence the attraction for students today. As for the stockbrokers, they are simply back where they belong: Some of the world's stock exchanges got their start in coffeehouses, since merchants and traders were once outsiders, too.

In fact, with the opening of a Warsaw Starbucks, one might even say the coffeehouse has reached the end of a certain cycle. Born in Central Europe, where it embodied an ideal of luxury and a set of aspirations; landing in Seattle, where it came to embody a different kind of luxury and a different set of aspirations; now imported back to Central Europe, aesthetically transformed but essentially fulfilling the same function, the coffeehouse appears to have come full circle at last.

Coffee is my CrAcK

Never used to be a fan of coffee until college. Well, I take that back. I'd drink the occasional iced mocha's and frappacinos in high school, but I would never touch hot, bitter, black coffee. It became a necessity in College. It gave me a kickstart in the morning, and kept me up late at night cramming for exams, and writing 10 page term papers. As much as I used to hate this liquid of a drug, i think I became addicted. I'm crabby without my caffine in the morning. If I don't have my nightly cup of starbucks - I get a massive migrane (caffine withdrawls perhaps?). It's just as bad as cigarettes. I've tried alternatives (energy drinks, caffine pills, more cigarettes), but nothing seems to work.

I'm hooked, but I don't feel bad - since coffee can't be too bad for one's health.

Coffee Shops:

Favorite - Starbucks (convenient locations, free wi-fi, good price, FREE itunes pick of the week!)

Least Favorite - Java Jo's (local Waterford shop, expensive, watered down coffee)
Most Unique - Roast Coffee Company (offers coffee & food, cheap, small, collegy)
Smokey - Rochambo (can smoke upstairs, but it gets loud and roudy with east side hippies)

I'm only writing this post because I'm sitting at Starbucks right now drinking my Grande Coffee with cream and a raw sugar! It seemed like an appropriate post.

Checking out

The One & Only
t0m3k1

88NINE radio milwaukee

Love this station. Haven't become a contributing member yet, but it's been crossing my mind a lot lately. I guess I'm just waiting for a BIGger paycheck. The thing I like the most about this station is that its ALL ABOUT MKE. The radio DJ's aren't talking about Kim Kardashian's cellulite, Britney's new boyfriend, or that Courtney Love bought a new shade of bright red lipstick.

Good music is played - a wide variety, nothing mainstream. No commercials! And they always have the scoop of what's going on around town each weekend. I've checked out some places that 88NINE has mentioned, and there was no dissapointment (yet).

The Neighborhood Project is going on right now. The station talks about different neighborhoods in Milwaukee, and the history of them. Actual people from these neighborhoods speak out - talking about the uniqueness of these places, and things that happened there that make Milwaukee what it is today.

Here's my favorite 88NINE songs i've heard lately:

Lykki Li - Little Bit
Madcon - Beggin
Northern Room - Galaxy

Back to my Coffee
The one & Only
t0m3k

Chicago, We came (no pun intended)

This last weekend in chicago was amazing. The whole idea of going somewhere with no plan was a brilliant move. Here's just a brief post of Kristen and I's experiences.

The hotel was great. We wanted to say away from chain hotels, so we decided on Hotel Blake. The neighborhood was awesome (Printer's Row-comparable to Milwaukee's Thrid Ward). We were 3 blocks away from the Sears Tower, and one block from the El train which we used a lot.

Some of the touristy things we did were Millenium/Grant Parks. I was really looking forward to the 'bean'. I've seen so many facebook pictures of this thing, and was a little bit dissapointed that I never got a chance to see it - especially only living 1.5 hours away from Chi. We walked the Magnificent Mile. For anyone that doesn't know... that's Michigan Avenue. It's lined with tons of high end stores and restaurants. We went into Armani Exchange, and they had a DJ mixing tracks behind the glass in the store. A little weird at first, but a unique experience. The John Hancock observatory was a lot better than the Sears Tower, in my opinion. We ate at the Signature Room (which had okay food) the view was great. There's also a lounge one floor up with 360 views of the city. The drinks were expensive, but you pay for experience, i think.

The downtown nightlife wasn't too exciting for us. We went to the Division/Rush Avenues Nightlife district and it was way too crowded. Kind of like water street in Milwaukee. Our favorite place was in Lincoln Park area, a couple of miles north of downtown. Kincades is a neat bar under the EL train. We made friends both nights there, got free drinks, and free taxi rides back to the hotel. Enough said.

I don't want to go into too much detail about this trip, but for anyone that is on a budget, and not looking to spend thousands of dollars on flights and attractions, Chicago is a great place to visit and have a good time. I definately see myself back there - SOON!

the one & only
t0m3k

Chicago, here we come

Kristen and I have been planning a little 'get-away' for a couple of months. With our limited budgets, we decided to go semi-local: Chicago. We've both been there briefly, but never experienced what Chi-town has to offer. There's no specific plan of what we're going to do.. just going with the flow. I think it's more fun that way. random.

So far the only plan is to take the train down there, to avoid parking hassels. Staying at hotel blake (downtown). Using public transportation and our feet all weekend. Checking out Jackowo (polish neighborhood), and the signature lounge (95th floor of J. Hancock building).

We might check out the zoo, or do a chicago brewery tour as well. I'll post pics and trip details when we get back. can't wait!

the one & only

t0m3k

a little bored

What a crappy day. It's been rainy and cold since last night. It's freezing in my house, and turning the heat on won't do anything for about 7 hours. There's radiant floor heating in my house, so by the time it actually warms up, it'll be tomorrow and 60 degrees outside. Apparently this stuff is really energy efficient - your house stays heated up for days once it reaches your desired temperature. Doesn't help when you want heat NOW.

The new College song needs to be taken off the air. The song was okay the first time I heard, online. The radio edits so much of this song... making it sound more stupid than annoying.

"drink my drink and smoke my ssssssssssssss"

I can't believe they edited 'beer' out of this song... towards the end they're chanting: kegstand!, kegstand!, kegstand! Or the part talking about beer bongs-Pretty contradicting.

I need coffee.

The 1 & only
t0m3k